News & Press Releases 2006

DENVER - Attorney General Suthers has distributed the Attorney Generals School Violence Prevention and Student Discipline Manual to hundreds of Colorado schools. In a letter* to school administrators and officials, he urges them to ensure their schools are safe environments and make school safety a top priority.

DENVER - Attorney General John Suthers today announced that Judge Lewis T. Babcock of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado has upheld the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act and dismissed the challenge brought by a group called Coalition for Equal Rights.

DENVER - Attorney General John Suthers and Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph announced today that Raymond Paul Morris, 49, of Castle Rock, Colorado, was sentenced in Douglas County District Court yesterday to 48 years in the Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to four counts of securities fraud and one count of theft, all Class 3 felonies. Morris was also ordered to pay $2 million in restitution to his victims. Morris was indicted by the Colorado State Grand Jury in November of 2005.

DENVER - Attorney General Suthers today announced that his office has settled the first in a series of lawsuits filed by his Consumer Protection Section against local charities and their officers.The settlement announced today involves Front Range Charitable Services and founder and president Colleen Gardenour.

DENVER – Attorney General John Suthers today unveiled brochures designed to combat scams that target Hispanic communities. Printed in Spanish, the brochures are a cooperative effort of attorney general offices nationwide.

“The best way to avoid becoming a victim of consumer fraud is to know how to spot scams,” said Suthers. “These brochures will help give Colorado’s Spanish-speaking community tools to identify schemes designed to defraud them of their hard-earned money.”

DENVER – Attorney General John Suthers today announced the conviction of Verna Ray Brown (DOB 9/23/55) and Rodney Fessenden (DOB 4/26/66) for multiple felony counts in connection with falsifying insurance certificates for hundreds of workers in the Greeley area.

According to the indictment, Brown and Fessenden operated several staffing agencies, including Absolute Solutions and 3B Enterprises. Since 2003, they staffed hundreds of workers with businesses in Greeley and surrounding areas including Boulder, Longmont, Sterling and Fort Collins.

DENVER – Law enforcement and school officials from Colorado and Wyoming today joined Colorado Attorney General Suthers for an innovative Internet investigations training led by Microsoft Corp.

“The anonymity of the Internet, as well as instant access to countless potential victims, has created incredible challenges for law enforcement who are on the front lines attempting to stop predators,” said Suthers. “With the support of a technology leader like Microsoft, we’re working together to combat cyber criminals.”

DENVER – Attorney General John Suthers announced that his office has issued annual reports on sub-prime lending activity in Colorado for 2005. The Attorney General’s Office enforces the Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code – Colorado’s consumer lending law. Sub-prime lenders that make or take assignment of consumer loans with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 12% or more must be licensed under the Uniform Consumer Credit Code (UCCC) and report their lending activity on an annual basis. Individual lender reports are compiled into composite reports, based on type of loans made.